So to all those that say it took a professional driver to beat a privateer: where was the factory support for BMW, Mercedes, Audi and Jaguar? GM put the challenge out to anyone that wanted to submit a stock vehicle and Mitsubishi was the only one to step-up.

Here's the best part: Anyone who happens to own a new comparable sport sedan, such as a BMW M3 or M5, perhaps a Mercedes-Benz AMG sedan or the Audi S4 (not to mention the Mitsubishi Evolution), is welcome to submit themselves for consideration ...

Really, an S4? Yeah that would be a close match. Maybe they meant RS4.

Any idea why they didn't go with the full blown LS9 setup? Seems to me if they wanted the true track sedan, the oil sump changes would of been quite beneficial.

I don't think they ever intended this to be a full-on track car. I mean really, who buys a large four door luxury car with serious track intentions? I would imagine that the dry sump only comes into play with extremely high cornering Gs that the Z06 and ZR1 are capable of. The C5 Z06 had some oil pressure issues in heavy track use that GM addressed with the C6. I'm guessing it will never be a problem on the Caddy, as it's not capable of those kind of cornering forces.

An M3 or M5 driven by a BMW pro would not likely have beaten the CTS-V by a significant enough margin to show that the CTS-V is not a legitimate player in this class. The CTS-V is clearly close enough. A narrow win would only legitimize the CTS-V, and that's not likely something BMW would want to do.
Secondly, we don't know what their driver schedules are like. There could be a conflict in the schedules. That was a reason given as to why Jim Mero was chosen to drive the ZR1 for its fastest lap, and not a racer like Jan Magnussen (who is confident he can easily shave 7 seconds from Mero's time).

The fact that BMW could have chosen Stuck or any number of development drivers to drive the M5, yet chose Auberlen who had never even driven the car, tells us how seriously they took the R&T challenge. In other words, not too seriously. Or, Stuck's schedule wouldn't allow it.

Hi, Friend.
I am Rojertwose I read your entire post In Motortrend, the CTS-V ran a 103.9 lap time compared to 105.4 for the Jaguar XF-R. 1.5 seconds is a lot to make up on a track Randy Pobst drove both cars.

The fact that BMW could have chosen Stuck or any number of development drivers to drive the M5, yet chose Auberlen who had never even driven the car, tells us how seriously they took the R&T challenge. In other words, not too seriously. Or, Stuck's schedule wouldn't allow it.

that, or they wanted to have a handy excuse in case of defeat.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Roosevelt

The credit belongs to those who are actually in the arena, who strive valiantly, who know the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spend themselves in a worthy cause; who, at the best, know the triumph of high achievement and who, at the worst, if they fail, fail while daring greatly so that their place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.

Hans Stuck working for VW isn't a handy excuse. BMW is not likely to promote a 4-year-old car very hard. There's very much a different incentive for GM to provide a CTS-V engineer who also happens to be an 11-time SCCA national champion. Which is exactly what they did.